Like a Cavaliers’ coaching search spanning two continents, let’s go here, there, and everywhere...
- As part of my agreement with the court, I would like to publicly extend my apologies to local police who were forced to respond to my home Sunday night. Apparently my neighbors were so concerned with the incessant, evil laughter pouring from my house during Game 5 of the NBA Finals, they felt compelled to call the authorities to make sure no one was in danger.
It was a false alarm, but the officers who stuck around to watch the Spurs give LeBron James another Finals LeBeatdown were forced to charge me with excessive giddiness. I pleaded guilty as charged. Haven’t stopped smiling since.
- The NBA draft is less than a week away and the Cavaliers still don’t have a head coach or a decisive verdict on their No. 1 pick, yet the focus of attention continues to be. ... LeBron. James can opt out of his deal with Miami and become a free agent, leaving Cavs fans to wonder if it’s possible for James to return to Northeast Ohio, potentially righting the wrongs he committed when he took his talents to South Beach four summers ago.
Let me make two things perfectly clear: One, James says he wants to be on the Mount Rushmore of NBA players when he’s done, and he can’t do that with just two rings. He will go to the place that gives him the best chance to win more titles, and the words “title” and “Cleveland” are not exactly going steady.
Two, if by some miracle of creation James did come back to play for the franchise he intentionally sabotaged while still under contract the last time, which local sports columnist/radio host would instantly withdraw his support for the hometown team he has cheered his entire life?
This guy.
- One more thought on the NBA Finals: Why is Tim Duncan’s name never mentioned in that “Mount Rushmore” conversation?
Jordan, Russell, Magic, Bird, Robertson, Kareem, and Kobe are the names most frequently floated, especially since James was asked the question back in March, when he predicted he would one day bump one of the top four from the shrine.
But Duncan is now a five-time champion, matching the ring totals of Magic and Kobe, trailing only Russell’s 11 and the six each won by Jordan and Jabbar. Duncan is widely accepted as the best power forward in league history, so if he’s the starting “4” on an all-time NBA starting five, and he has the five championships to go with that honor, here’s one vote to have his face sculpted into the side of that NBA mountain.
- Carlos Santana has hit .333 in June, raising his season average to a robust .191, still nine points below Nick Swisher’s Menbroza Line. Santana came under heavy criticism this season for hitting so poorly in the cleanup spot, but his fans have been adamant that his on-base percentage proves he’s still a valuable hitter. Perhaps we need a clear definition of “value.”
Tom Hamilton, the radio voice of the Indians, spoke of the Angels’ Josh Hamilton Monday night in the series opener, pointing out that Hamilton had a “disastrous” 2013 in Anaheim, hitting just .250 with 21 home runs and 79 RBI. And he’s right. Those numbers are just not good enough for a cleanup hitter on a contending team.
So what are Santana’s season averages in his first three full years with at least 600 at-bats? You guessed it: a .253 average with 21 homers and 76 RBI.
If those numbers are “disastrous” for Hamilton, they are at least “unacceptable” for Santana. I’m not saying dump him, but he has no business hitting cleanup in anyone’s batting order.
- Back to the NBA draft for a moment: Did anyone else get the sickening feeling of deja vu when you heard that the Cavaliers are leaning toward Kansas center Joel Embiid with that No. 1 pick? That’s not to knock Embiid’s talent, which is reportedly off the charts, but when you have a 20-year-old 7-footer with a bad back, with a recent history of knee problems, who also just broke his foot this week — and a potential superstar sitting there waiting for his name to be called — doesn’t it make you nervous?
All I know is that I never thought any team would ever make the same mistake Portland made in 1984 when they were so infatuated with oft-injured 7-footer Sam Bowie that they chose him over the dynamic Michael Jordan, but the Blazers repeated the mistake in 2007, taking 7-footer Greg Oden over the reigning league MVP, Kevin Durant. And now, I fear a third chapter in this sad saga if the desperate-for-size Cavaliers take Embiid over future high-scoring superstars Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker with the top pick.
- Yes, I realize the World Cup is being played. No, I haven’t watched a second of it. Does that make me a bad guy? Does it make me un-American? According to some in the social media world, it does.
Let me clarify: I just don’t like soccer. The sport does nothing for me. I’d rather watch reruns of the national spelling bee on ESPN. It doesn’t mean I hate America.
All things being equal, I would prefer an American team to win everything they enter, including every international equestrian competition around the world. That doesn’t mean I have to watch the horses jump.
Just because a team wears red, white, and blue into a contest, a boring sport doesn’t suddenly become an exciting one.
I’ll make you a deal: You do the watching for me, and then tell me the score when it’s over. Either way, it’s a win-win for me.
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Bob Frantz hosts “The Bob Frantz Show” on WTAM-AM 1100 from 7 p.m. to midnight weeknights, and following Cavaliers, Indians and Browns games.